Chiefs Fresh Takes: 8/9 Training Camp Practice

Today, Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton and special teams coordinator Dave Toub spoke to the media after practice at #ChiefsCamp

Bob Sutton

On CB Sean Smith: “I think he has done a really good job. Like I said, from the get go, we said ‘Hey. This is how they’re starting.’ As you guys know, in a lot of these packages they all play at the same time. It’s far less separated than it might appear sometimes—who’s the one [and] who isn’t the one as far as reps and that. But they’re just going to keep competing and I hope they make it a hard decision on us. That’d be the best thing for us.”

On developing during camp: “From the first time we talked to them we said, ‘Camp is all about technique.’ You need to hone your technique because that’s what’s going to ultimately allow you to be successful out there on those 16 Sundays, Mondays or Thursdays.”

On the rotation of linebackers next to LB Derrick Johnson on the inside: “Yeah. I think that all those guys who have gone in there—Joe (Mays) has done a really good job. Josh (Mauga) has come in and of course, he’s familiar with the system. Nico (Johnson) has done a good job. So those to me are plusses for us and however that shakes out, it shakes out. But I know we got some good football players there.”

On defensive linemen Vance Walker and Jaye Howard: “Vance, we had to move out to big end—he’s played inside. And that’s part of this camp too. We got to develop some depth here and some games we don’t take as many D-linemen in the game so somebody has got to be able to play multiple positions. So, they’re playing similar positions but I wouldn’t say they’re the exact same positions.”

On DL Jaye Howard getting so many snaps Thursday: “Obviously, DeVito not being up pushed Jaye up with all of the group so he got a lot of reps there. I thought he did a good job. He’s got a lot of little things he has to work on and I think he’s done a good job in camp.”

Dave Toub

On special teams in the preseason game: “Really good start. I was really happy with the way everything played out. The kickers were 100 percent, returners did a good job fielding the ball [and we did] a really good job covering kicks. A couple small little breakdowns but nothing major we can learn from.”

On the punt return touchdown: “For him (De’Anthony Thomas), I mean he’s a rookie. He went in there and he showed a lot of courage and those are the things we wanted to see. He showed a lot of courage catching the ball, took a good hit and still held onto the ball, didn’t go down [and] kept his balance. Once he gets into the open field you can see how dangerous he is. It was good to see.

On how the return affects the rest of the team: “It was good for everybody’s confidence. It’s going to lift us up and guys will block even harder next time when he goes back there.”

On RB Knile Davis bringing the ball out of the end zone on a return: “I want them to be aggressive. The one with Knile—he’ll be the first one to tell you he was going backwards on the end line. You don’t want to come out with that one but he probably thought I was only going to give him one and he wanted to make the best of it. I mean I understand it. These guys, they want to go out there and they want to perform, and preseason is the time to do that.”

On the kicking competition based on the game: “Even right now. (Ryan) Succop might have showed a little bit stronger leg on the kickoffs. But really, what we were trying to do with the kickoffs, we were trying to kick high hang times and just try to get those guys to return it because we wanted to test our kickoff coverage unit. He was hitting the ball so well. It was like a golf swing. When you take an easy swing, the ball flies. Same thing with him. He was trying to hit it high and he just was hitting it sweet and the thing was really taking off.”

On LB Dee Ford as a blocker: “If he’s the best guy on one phase and we can use him Andy (Reid) is going to let us use him. He did a great job there on punt return. He made the touchdown block. That was his job. The last guy in the line, which happened to be the punter. He made a nice block on that and kind of sprung him right there.”

On other guys he believed stood out in special teams: “Josh Martin played a great game—a really good job blocking. (Daniel) Sorensen did a good job on blocking. [He] could probably do a little bit better job in the punt return game. Nico Johnson played well—he’s off to a good start. Those are a couple guys that jump at me now.”

On the long extra points: “I like it. I think it puts more emphasis on the field goal kickers. I think everybody is watching it now. I mean nobody even paid attention to it [before].”